The parents who want DESIGNER BABIES
More than one in every 10 parents would consider using gene therapy to change their future child’s appearance. Of those, “editing” these are the things they could consider
MORE than one in every 10 people would consider using gene therapy to change their future child’s appearance.
Gene editing is a form of technology that allows scientists to add, remove or alter a person’s DNA.
It can be used to make changes so certain genes - like those associated with the development of breast cancer - are not passed on from one generation to the next.
Gene editing can also be used to alter things like eye and hair colour.
No form of gene of modification is currently legal in the UK.
A new survey by YouGov, however, found 12% of Brits would consider using it to change cosmetic aspects of a prospective child.
Of those, 47 per cent said they would consider using it to prevent their future child going bald.
Some 42 per cent said they would consider changing their future child’s height or build, while a quarter would alter their future child’s hair colour.
Only 20 per cent would change their future child’s eye colour, and 14 per cent their skin colour.
People were also asked if they’d consider using gene editing for other reasons.
Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) said they would contemplate doing so to make their child more intelligent.
Perhaps surprisingly, 11 per cent of people said they would not consider using gene editing to prevent any future children developing a genetic disorder - like cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s disease - they they carried the genes for.
Respondents were also asked to what extent they thought choosing a sperm or egg donor based on things like ethnicity and build - currently a legal practice - was similar to gene editing a child’s appearance.
Some 47 per cent said it was similar while 32 per cent said it wasn’t.
More than a fifth (21 per cent) said they didn’t know.
Earlier this year the Nuffield Council on Bioethics - an independent body that examines and reports on ethical issues in biology and medicine - published a report saying that “editing the DNA of a human embryo, sperm, or egg to influence the characteristics of a future person could be morally permissible”.
Professor Dave Archard, chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, said: “Huge advances are happening in genomics research, and whilst we have to acknowledge that genes alone do not shape a person, the possibility of using genome editing in reproduction to secure or avoid a characteristic in a child offers a radically new approach that is likely to appeal to some prospective parents.
“There may be good reasons for allowing some parental preferences to be met, but we need to be careful that the use of genome editing to help parents to exercise these preferences doesn’t increase social disadvantage, discrimination or division and that close attention is paid to the welfare of those involved, especially any child born as a result.”